SUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
After a good night’s rest, we were ready to start our Hawaiian adventures! First off, we went to the Maui Ocean Center – a really neat aquarium and sealife center. We enjoyed everything about it. Especially the to-life-sized bronze tortoise – with eggs! – near the entrance to the center.
The center contained all the things one might expect in such a facility – a living reef, a surge pool, a turtle lagoon, a touch pool, sharks, whales, and how the Hawaiian’s related to all of it. Most fascinating. We spent several hours there.
Next, we went into Lahaina proper to see the city and all it holds. One of the most interesting sights is a huge banyan tree. It was planted in 1873, and has grown so that it’s limbs cover the entire city center. Many of the limbs need to have supports so they don’t drag the ground. It is over 60′ high, and covers more than 2/3 of an acre. It was planted to mark 50 years of Protestant missionary work in Lahaina.
Next we saw the Baldwin Home. It was built in 1834 as the home for Dwight Baldwin, Protestant medical missionary to Lahaina. The house served as a medical office, and the general center for missionary activity from mid-1830’s to 1868.
We saw the ruins of the brick palace of King Kamehameha 1. The footprint seemed really tiny, but the accompanying legend shows it to be a two-storied thatched building. So I guess important guests were more impressed than we were. It was built near 1800, one of the first western buildings on the island, and the bricks were locally made. We saw ruins of the old fort.
We saw the Ko’a Fisherman’s Shrine along the harbor, as it faced Molokai.
We went into Lahaina proper and to the waterfront. A cruise ship was in port that day, and we watched as the ferry brought tourists from the ship to Lahaina, as the port isn’t deep enough for the ship to anchor right at the harbor.
As we walked along Front Street, we saw some young men tossing literally dozens of Mahi-Mahi into the back of a pick-up truck. Amazing.
A good day in Maui. This was such fun for us. Something we shall never forget.
~~~~~More to come~~~~~
Old Things R New 
That sounds ike a lovely place. Well told.
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Looks like a great trip. A beautiful place indeed. We went to Oahu a couple years ago, but didn’t have time to visit any other islands. Maybe next time. It was definitely one of my favorite vacations.
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What wonderful memories to reflect on, Judy. Thanks for sharing!
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